Formula 1 makes its annual trip to Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix and both BBC Sport and Sky Sports F1 will have comprehensive live coverage throughout the entire race weekend.
Defending world champion Sebastian Vettel claimed a dominant victory in last year’s race, leading for all but three laps before crossing the line ahead of Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton.
Alonso started from sixth on the grid but recovered well, passing the 2008 world champion Hamilton with nine laps to go.
Already a three-time winner in Canada, Hamilton will fancy his chances of taking that tally to four after his team’s dominant start to the season, with the German marque having won all six races so far.
After the Mercedes inter-team rivalry intensified following a tumultuous Monaco Grand Prix a fortnight ago, Britain’s Lewis Hamilton says he and team-mate Nico Rosberg remain friends following a controversial weekend, sparked by an incident in the qualifying session.
Despite that, Rosberg went on to claim victory on the streets of Monte Carlo and snatch the lead in the drivers’ standings back from the Briton, but Hamilton will want to hit back immediately, starting with victory on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, a track where he has won three times in six attempts.
Just when Hamilton had taken the championship lead and seemed to be in the form of his life, team-mate Nico Rosberg hit back with a robust defence of his Monaco GP win, and suddenly life doesn’t appear so rosy at Mercedes.
Red Bull may have been closer to the dominant Mercedes in Monaco, but that was a sideshow to the main event of Rosberg against Hamilton, with the latter convinced his team-mate had deliberately gone off to protect his pole position in Monte Carlo.
While Hamilton now insists the two have cleared the air and are friends again, those inside the paddock sense it will not take much to prise open the cracks in their relationship this weekend in Montreal.
Situated on the high-speed Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, the Canadian Grand Prix is set to be another race weekend when the only man that can beat one Mercedes driver is the other.
Montreal can often provide a challenge for the teams as a result of unfavourable weather, be that heavy rain or cold temperatures, and as such it usually delivers one of the more entertaining and exciting races on the calendar.
Add the element of primetime viewing for fans in the UK and Europe for the race itself on Sunday evening and all the ingredients are in place for another thrilling edition of the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.
Fans can follow all the action from the seventh round of the 2014 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season on both BBC Sport and Sky Sports F1.
SOTB’s viewing guide to the 2014 F1 Canadian Grand Prix below:
OFFICIAL F1 WEBSITE TRACK GUIDE LIVE TIMING
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The Canadian Grand Prix is the third of BBC TV’s nine live races in 2014 and all five on-track sessions will be shown in their entirety from Montreal.
Live coverage begins on Friday with the first free practice session on BBC Two followed by the second in the evening on BBC Three, while practice three is live on BBC Two on Saturday afternoon.
As usual on the BBC’s live race weekends, both qualifying and the race will be shown as it happens on Saturday and Sunday respectively on BBC One and BBC One HD, with both being broadcast in prime-time due to the time difference.
Suzi Perry presents BBC TV’s coverage across weekend where she will be joined by David Coulthard, Eddie Jordan and Allan McNish, all of whom will be on hand to provide lively analysis and discussion in the pits and paddock.
During the lengthy qualifying and race build-ups there will be plenty of fresh features and interviews to keep viewers informed and entertained, including David Coulthard’s grid-walk on race day.
Commentary comes from Ben Edwards and Coulthard, with Lee McKenzie and Tom Clarkson providing pit-lane updates and conduct interviews with the drivers and team personnel.
BBC Sport’s popular F1 Forum, presented by Suzi Perry, follows the conclusion of the BBC One race transmission on the BBC Red Button and online at 9.00pm.
The BBC Sport website will have live streaming of all live BBC TV broadcasts, as well as additional live video content during including extra feeds such as driver tracker, on-board cameras, pits channel and a choice of commentary, plus interviews and analysis.
All of the BBC’s TV coverage will be available to view shortly after transmission on BBC iPlayer.
BBC Radio 5 Live and 5 Live Sports Extra will also have live audio commentary of every on-track session from Canada with James Allen, Jennie Gow and Allan McNish.
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FORMULA 1 2014 ON SKY SPORTS F1 HD
Sky Sports F1 will have its usual extensive live coverage of this weekend’s grand prix in Canada.
The race will be shown live and uninterrupted, along with the practice and qualifying sessions on Friday and Saturday.
Simon Lazenby will anchor Sky Sports F1′s live coverage throughout the weekend where he will be joined by regulars Damon Hill, Martin Brundle and Johnny Herbert.
Ted Kravitz will provide the latest news and reports and from the pit lane, while Rachel Brookes steps in again for Natalie Pinkham in the Sky F1 interviewing role, with Pinkham covering the Hockey World Cup for Sky Sports.
Commentary on all sessions comes from David Croft, with Martin Brundle joining him for both qualifying and the race, with Anthony Davidson calling the practice sessions, as well as providing his unique insights via the Sky Pad during the weekend.
The F1 Show live from the Montreal pits will build up to the race weekend on Friday evening, hosted by Simon Lazenby and Rachel Brookes.
During the race, a host of interactive additions, including on-board cameras, pit-lane feeds, the latest race stats and much more available via the red button and the Sky Sports for iPad app.
For those who won’t be at home, every second of the action can be seen via computers, laptops, mobiles and tablet devices on Sky Go.
Further information, news and video content can be found at skysports.com/f1, and viewers are encouraged to interact with the live programmes via Twitter – @SkySportsF1, #SkyF1.
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